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Dr. Tim Elmore has given parents, teachers, coaches, and anyone else who works with students some excellent insights in his book Marching Off The Map. Here are a few more quotes from Dr. Elmore.

“The Latin root word for ‘educate’ is ‘ducere’ which means to ‘push out.’ … We should not put students in a passive mode as we teach. We must be inspirers of learning. We must help pull ambition out of them, not push information into them.”

“According to Dr. Michael Leahy, ‘Today’s typical high school student endures the same anxiety levels as a psychiatric patient did in the early 1950s.’ In any given year, about one in five will experience an anxiety attack. Why? Their world is overwhelming, cluttered with information coming at them at the rate of a thousand messages a day.”

“Thousands of Baby Boomers retire each day in America. They will leave leadership positions needing to be filled. Even if everyone in Generation X were a brilliant leader, there would not be enough of them to fill the vacancies left by the Boomers. The young adults among the Millennial Generation will be needed for leadership, ready or not.”

“Although our young adults are rich in potential—we don’t really expect them to perform responsible acts until a full decade later that we expected a century ago. I believe it’s detrimental both for our kids and our society. In many states, we give them the rights to adulthood at 18 or 21, like smoking, drinking or voting. We don’t, however, expect the responsibilities that accompanied those rights. It’s unhealthy. The rights and responsibilities should always go together.”

“Remember that children (in general) cannot comprehend an addictive behavior. Adults must lead them into healthy moderation, where they both understand and enjoy technology, but utilize it as a ‘servant.’

“Remember that children will choose ice cream over lima beans—and screens over the healthy alternatives for play. While there are some exceptions, adults must be the ones to lead them in their emotional development, and introduce behaviors and habits that produce maturity.

“Remember that children are drawn to entertainment, whether or not they learn something from it. … Adults must leverage what they’re magnetically drawn to and make it beneficial.”

“Wise leaders utilize vision that can see both backward and forward. They look back and learn from the past. They glean from past mistakes in order to avoid repeating them. Additionally, they seek what was helpful and timeless so they can carry those elements forward. They swing backward so they can swing forward well.”

“A culture that offers the young information and autonomy without requiring equal parts accountability and responsibility produces ‘unready’ adults.”

“Students are incentivized if they know why a topic is relevant before they learn. Students bond with an experience more than a lecture. Students comprehend information when it’s connected to a narrative. Students remember data when an image is utilized in their learning.”

“Effective teachers don’t say as much as possible. They actually say as little as needed—allowing students to get on with their learning.”

You can also check out my review of Marching Off The Map by clicking here. The first set of quotes (and an infographic) I shared from the book are here, and a set of quotes that Dr. Elmore shared in his book are here.

I’m going to make a statement about Dr. Tim Elmore’s book Generation iY that I rarely make: This book is a MUST READ for parents and anyone who works with youth!

Yes, a must read. The subtitle of this book is not over-dramatized, but really is an understated truth: Our last chance to save their future.

People who are parents now mostly fall into either the late Baby Boomer or Generation X classification. Our world is so different now than it was when we were kids. The growth in technology use (the “i-world” that Dr. Elmore illuminates so well) makes this generation unique. If we try to parent our kids or mentor Generation iYers using the same techniques parents have used in previous generations, we will lose this generation.

Tim Elmore knows this generation well. He outlines the paradoxes, the marks of (im)maturity, the reasons for their apparent lack of motivation, the incorrect parenting techniques, and the ineffective teaching methods that characterize Gen iY. But Dr. Elmore doesn’t stop at just pointing out all of these things; he gives clear-cut ways we can capture this generation before it’s too late. I wish this book had been available when I first became a parent of a Gen iYer!

If I haven’t made it clear enough already, let me state it again: Generation iY is a must read! The issues are too complex and the stakes are too high for us to miss our opportunity to save the future of this generation.

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I love reading what young people are writing. One of the things I really appreciate about the “internet age” is the access to people’s thoughts. I love reading what young people are writing because it is so real, so raw, so eye-opening for me. Sometimes I think I focus too much on the “head” stuff and not enough on the “heart” stuff.

Who am I to lead others?
To bring them to You?
Can this possibly what You’ve meant for me?
It seems to be too good to be true.

I want you to use me for more.
I want to set the world on fire.
I want these dreams I have to soar.
You gave them to me for a reason,
Why can’t I see where I’m supposed to go?
What am I not hearing above the roar?

Help me give these dreams to you,
I know there’s so much more I can do.
I wanna set my world on fire.
Can I be the one You use?
Can You give my dreams wings?
~Sarah

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Interbellum, Greatest, Silent, Baby Boomers, Busters, MTV, Gen X, Gen Y, Post-Millennial, Gen Z. It seems we’re obsessed with naming and defining our past and present generations. The “experts” tell us what each generation is motivated by, what they’re thinking, what they dream of, and what they are afraid of. I have stacks of books on my shelf about how to relate to people in each of these generational groups, and I constantly get emails which tell me the newest way to get each generation’s attention.

However, when I look in the Bible I only see two generations: this generation and next generation. God is not concerned with description, but with action. I love what God said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous inthis generation.” What you and I do in this generation reverberates into the next generation.

The most important generation is Generation Now.

Yesterday I discovered something a whole lot easier than reading all of these books and sifting through all of the data to learn about GenNow. I discovered this by accident. I discovered it by fun. And I discovered it was exactly the same way Jesus connected with and related to His GenNow.

All I had to do was hang out at my office.

Throughout the day people saw my car in the parking lot, so they just stopped in. It was a blast! Just as Jesus spent times at parties, wedding banquets, in the market place, and with His friends, I got to know GenNow by simply being with them. We talked, we played music (great jam session!), I got beat in ping pong, we ate pizza, we worshipped God, we threw marshmallows at each other.

Through all of this I learned what GenNow is dreaming about, laughing about, and worrying about. I also affirmed what I already knew: GenNow is a very special group!

Do you have a family member or friend that you want to connect with more deeply? Follow the example of Jesus: just spend time with them. I did, and it was great. In fact, I can’t wait to do it again and again and again!